I'll have to go catch one tomorrow and look with my magnifying glass. They can fly. Not well, but they "can" fly. Especially if you are trying to catch one. :)
I think the main primary flight feathers are pretty normal, just the edges are frizzled. An adult Silkie may look like a powder puff, but they aren't really. It's a good layer of insulation. They really are very cold hardy, more so than a lot of other breeds.
I had a batch in a separate pen with a closed box and a wired area attached. They got down to just a pair, and then the rooster finally died one day in the middle of winter. I fished him out and then wondered what I was going to do with the little hen, and she was a small one. Should I put her in with all the rest or not.
She never had been with the rest of the flock, and some of the roosters were big, so I just left her there, fed and watered her every day and kept an eye on her. She seemed perfectly content, not particularly distressed, and finally spent the whole winter in there all by herself, alone. And we have cold winters with lots of snow.
Come spring she started laying eggs. I had ordered some babies, so when they came I put them in the baby coop with a heat lamp, and got the single black Silkie hen. Put her in there and sat and watched. She fussed for a little while, looked a bit confused, then suddenly she took over. Started talking up a storm, teaching them to eat and drink, took as many as she could under her wings, the rest gathered around her and she took over and mothered the whole batch of 25. Never lost a one.
Amazing little birds.
On the other hand, I've had some white ones that were dumb as a box of rocks. I had one white Silky rooster that was literally too stupid to eat unless I put the food in there and dipped his beak in the dish to prime the pump every time. No he was not blind, just stupid. Dumbest chicken I ever saw. I kept him in a cage for his own protection. Even the hens didn't want much to do with him. He was one of those with the big lump on his head. Probably bone missing over the brain, may have been why. Probably should have been soup, but he fascinated me. I couldn't figure out how or why he was surviving.
I've had much better luck with black ones. I'll try to remember to look tomorrow.
Amused,
Diane S.
----- Original Message -----
From: jajeanpierre
To: CHICKENS-101@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, April 02, 2013 10:53 PM
Subject: [CHICKENS-101] Re: Question on Silkie Feathers
I mean that the primary flight feathers of this Silkie is held together like a normal feather. The bird has a classic flight feather.
My understanding of a Silkie's feather is that the barbicels, the little hooks on the feathers that hold it together, are absent.
Is this just a fault that is seen in Silkies?
Janet
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